TNA Knockout Speaks on Her MMA Career, iMPACT Changes on Spike TV

– Devin sent the following: Spike TV will no longer be showing replays of TNA Impact beginning next week. Impact will air on Thursdays at 9 PM and that will be the only airing.

– Lisa Marie Varon (a.k.a. “Tara”) is looking have her first MMA fight before the end of 2009. She feels she’s more than ready to enter the MMA cage.

“I feel more than ready now. I mean, if someone said tomorrow, ‘You have to fight tomorrow,’ I feel I can fight tomorrow,” Varon told Fanhouse.com.

Varon also notes being insulted by MMA trainers mocking her background in professional wrestling. She feels people within the MMA industry underestimate her toughness because she has a background in “phony wrestling.”

“I’m surrounded by, ‘This is not phony wrestling.’ It’s kind of an insult to my craft. We break our limbs,” Varon said. “Pro wrestling is a sport, as well, even though it’s entertainment. You still have to be in shape for it.”

Varon says she wants to be the female version of Brock Lesnar by dominating the sport of MMA after spending time in professional wrestling.

“I know I have the stigma of being a pro wrestler coming into this industry, but I know I’m not going to go in there just to make a competitive match. I’m there to make a statement and to dominate the fight,” she said. “I’m not going to be going in there half-ready; I’m going to make a statement. I know that I’m going to be representing Brock Lesnar, Bobby Lashley, but I feel like I am the next Brock Lesnar. He has ridiculous strength and so do I.”

Considering she is 38 years old and starting late in the sport, Varon’s age has come into question among critics.

“People know that I’m 38, but I like to correct them and say that I’m 38 and a half. It’s not an obstacle for me. I’m in the best shape of my life right now. I really do believe that. I have muscle mass from years of training, and I’ve always been an athlete, so like fine wine, I get better with age,” she said.